One more girl found murdered in Kurla

Police recovered the decomposed body of an 8-year-old girl who had been missing from her home since June 6. The deceased was identified as Nusrat Khurshid Alam Sheikh, a resident of Shramik Nagar slum colony in Kurla (East).

Around 9.15 am on Saturday, a worker repairing the roof on the first floor of a chawl in Vatsalabai Nagar slum colony noticed a foul smell coming from an adjoining room which was locked. He got down and informed some residents who in turn informed the Nehru Nagar police.

When the police broke open the lock and entered the room, they found the decomposed, naked body of Nusrat. Her clothes were lying beside her. The police also found a nylon rope hanging from the ceiling.

Preliminary investigation revealed a one-and-a-half feet hole in the roof of this room. Police officials suspect that Nusrat’s body could have been dropped into the room through this hole, with the help of the nylon rope, some five or six days ago.

The original owner of the room had sold it some three months ago and subsequently moved to Nashik. Police said that they will soon be interrogating the old and the new owners of the room.

According to the police, on the evening of June 6, Nusrat was playing outside her home while her mother was cooking dinner at home. The girl’s father, who was the last to see her, had bought her ice candy when she had insisted, after which he left for work.

When she did not return home even by 6 pm, family members and neighbours searched for her and finally lodged a missing person complaint at Nehru Nagar police station.

Nusrat’s body was sent to JJ Hospital for post mortem. “Her father Khursheed Alam Sheikh identified the body,” said police inspector Suryakant Sawant of Nehru Nagar police station. “We have registered the case under sections 302 (murder), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 342 (wrongfully confinement) of the IPC,” he added.